A key witness in the Philippines' Ampatuan massacre has been killed, in what looks like an attempt to eliminate anyone who could testify in court against those accused of taking part in the world's deadliest assault on journalists, report the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

In a case that could have global implications, the UN Human Rights Committee for the first time has found that jailing a writer for libel represents a violation of freedom of expression, report the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) in the Philippines and the International Press Institute (IPI).

Publisher and radio broadcaster Christopher Guarin was on his way home in General Santos City last week with his wife and nine-year-old daughter when he was shot and killed by two armed men on a motorcycle, report the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) and other IFEX members. The telltale killing - just five days into the new year - is the latest indication of "the persistence of the culture of impunity that encourages the killing of journalists and media workers in the Philippines," says the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists, of which CMFR is a founding member.

A radio broadcaster who commented on corruption in his province was gunned down by two unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle on 22 August in Enrique B. Magalona, Negros Occidental, Philippines, report the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

It was another deadly week for journalists in Asia, with at least three journalists killed in separate incidents in Pakistan, India and the Philippines. With such abysmal records bringing the murderers of slain journalists to justice - all three countries rank in the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Impunity Index - the outlook is bleak for the latest victims, say IFEX members, who are calling for new ways to address journalists' safety and to counter impunity.

A radio broadcaster who spoke out against environmental abuse was shot dead this week in Palawan, a far-western island province in the Philippines. He was the second journalist killed under the new administration, report the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) and other IFEX members.

One year on, the International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX), the world's largest network of free expression organisations, is calling for justice in the Maguindanao massacre. On 23 November 2009, at least 57 people, among them 32 journalists and media workers, were slaughtered on a grassy hilltop in Maguindanao province in the southern Philippines while travelling in an election convoy. The event is not only infamous for being the deadliest act of violence committed against journalists ever recorded - but it also shines a light on the decades-long culture of impunity for the killers of journalists and other civilians in the Philippines, says IFEX. IFEX members worldwide marked the day as a Global Day of Action.

Three Filipino journalists have been murdered in the final days of outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's tenure, report the Manila-based Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and other IFEX members. The President's reign has been emblematic of impunity and media murders.

Before the Philippine leadership steps down in just a few weeks, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), along with 30 other IFEX members, is demanding that it make one last "crucial" move: to finally put the Freedom of Information Act into law. Meanwhile, on the sixth anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre, Manila's Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) is appealing to the President-Elect to tackle the longstanding issue of impunity.

The massacre of 32 Filipino journalists last November was a deadly start for election campaigning in the Philippines leading up to this week's presidential elections. In a recent series of election-related incidents, a radio journalist received a death threat, another journalist disappeared, and media workers have been beaten by followers of local political officials, report the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) and the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA). Outgoing President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo fostered a culture of impunity to hold onto power, with 137 journalists killed under her watch.

The massacre of 32 journalists in the Philippines last year is the result of an established culture of impunity and a flawed political system that relies on warlords, says a new report from a fact-finding mission led by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). The report paints a picture of a history of power struggles and political patronage that threaten the media environment.

Last week's deadly attack on journalists in the Philippines is rooted in a culture of impunity that has become worse under the current regime, with a brutal intolerance for independent views. The shock of the recent massacre of at least 30 journalists and media workers has prompted 52 IFEX members to call on the authorities in the country to face the larger problems that restrict free expression.

At least 21 journalists were killed in a massacre of more than 52 people after being abducted by armed men in the Philippines this week, reports the Manila-based Centre for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR). This is the largest group of journalists killed in a single incident in the world. Many of the victims were beheaded and mutilated; some of the women were raped.

Journalists continue to be gunned down in the Philippines and witnesses look the other way due to fear of reprisals, say new reports by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the Manila-based Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR).

Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo rhymed off her achievements in her final state of the union address on 27 July, but Filipino academics and journalists have revealed a starkly different view of the leader's two terms in office.

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